1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates, in general, to an apparatus and method for transmitting disparity maps.
2. Description of the Related Art
3D television and film is becoming increasingly popular. Typically, when generating 3D content, a disparity map is formed which identifies the amount of horizontal separation between the left and right eye versions of each image. Specifically, a map is formed showing the amount of difference between the left and right eye versions of each pixel in each image. The disparity map may be used for many reasons. One example is to determine where to place graphics within the 3D image. This ensures that a graphic is not placed in an inappropriate location on the screen, and more specifically, so that the graphic does not occlude part of or all of the 3D image that is in front of the graphic in 3D space. The disparity map may also be used to determine where to locate subtitles, such as closed captioning.
It is known to place any captions or graphics in front of all other objects within the 3D image. In order to achieve this, the caption is placed within the 3D video using a vision mixer. Placing the captions or graphics in this location allows the graphic not to be occluding part or all of the 3D image and is particularly useful in real-time insertion of a caption as a maximum amount of disparity for each pixel in the image can be determined and never exceeded. However, positioning the graphic in such a way has the disadvantage of causing discomfort to the viewer over an extended period because the viewer must look at the caption and then to re-adjust their eyes to view the 3D image.
It would be desirable to find a way of determining the disparity map quickly so that the caption can be placed at an appropriate place within the 3D environment.
Moreover, as mechanisms currently exist to allow the inclusion of captions into a 3D image, it would be desirable to be backwardly compatible with current technology. In particular, it would be useful to enable where to place the caption using current vision mixers.